Sharon Y. Eubanks

Sharon served as Chief Counsel at the National Whistleblower Center, a nonprofit that educates, empowers, and represents whistleblowers worldwide. One of the Center’s specialties is assisting whistleblowers in countering illegal wildlife trafficking, illegal fishing, ocean pollution and other forms of environmental harm.

Sharon also served as lead counsel on behalf of the United States in the largest civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) enforcement action ever filed, United States v. Philip Morris USA, et al., the federal tobacco litigation. Following a nine-month trial, the federal district court found that the major U.S. cigarette companies violated the civil provisions of RICO and committed fraud on a massive scale. They were ordered to change the way they do business, particularly in marketing and advertising, and the decision was affirmed upon appeal to the D.C. Circuit.

Sharon is co-author of Bad Acts: The Racketeering Case Against the Tobacco Industry, an insider’s account of the federal tobacco litigation that led to the landmark decision. While at the Department of Justice, Sharon received numerous awards recognizing her work, including the U.S. Attorney General’s John Marshall Award for Outstanding Legal Achievement, as well as the Stanley D. Rose Memorial award, the Civil Division’s highest and most prestigious award.

From 2007 until 2009, Sharon worked exclusively on pro bono matters at the D.C. law firm of Holland & Knight. In 2009, Sharon joined a civil rights litigation boutique firm in Washington, representing plaintiffs in employment discrimination and civil rights cases. She worked with a team of attorneys representing over 6,000 female employees in Velez v. Novartis. Following a seven-week trial, Sharon’s trial team secured a $253 million judgment for the plaintiffs, the largest employment verdict in a gender discrimination case in U.S. history, after which the trial judge remarked that the case had been “brilliantly tried.”

Sharon has taught Trial Advocacy at George Washington University School of Law as an adjunct professor, and has served as an instructor for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy. She is a member of the Advisory Committee for the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco, and serves as a member of the board and an officer of Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights.

Sharon has appeared and discussed her work on several national television programs. She also is featured in the 2011 documentary film, “Addiction Incorporated,” which highlights the story of a key witness in the case against Big Tobacco.

Sharon is a graduate of Mississippi State University and Georgetown University Law Center.